Lost Gem of the 80s #15: Level 42 - "World Machine" (1985)

This one holds a special place in my heart. When my family first moved to England in the summer of '91, this was the only cassette we could all agree on. So, it stayed in the player on repeat for that whole summer.

Level 42 has always been much much much bigger in the UK than the US. Like, sell out Wembley Stadium big. Here, they're one of those 2 hit wonders, but most people only remember one. That hit was "Something About You" which has the added misfortune of not being recognizable by name. So, no one remembers the band name, their albums, or the song until you sing a few bars (Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over" has the same problem. You have to say the "Hey now, hey now" part before the light goes on.). The good part is, once the light does go on, it's usually followed with a "yeeahh, I remember that song" and a smile slowly creeps across their lips.

The band is made up of the two-man core of Mark King (bass/vocals) and Mike Lindup (keyboards/backing vocals). Their sound has always been this amalgam of African rhythms and percussion mixed with jazz and expert pop. King, who looks a little like Alton Brown, is an expert bassist and utilizes that thumb slap method, which you can hear in all their stuff. Lindup is fine on the keyboards, but his real strength, and an underappreciated gift to all mankind, is his singing voice. It's this beautiful high falsetto that is the perfect compliment to any song. I dare say, he may be the greatest back-up singer in the history of recorded music. Every song is given weight and made better by his voice. Every one. It's one of the world's most amazing instruments.

World Machine was their sort of coming out in the states, the first thing they released here that got any attention. And the album is deeper than just that wonderful single. "Leaving Me Now" is one of the great love songs of the 80s (be sure to get the version on this album, and not their greatest hits package, Level Best. That album cuts off the final piano-played coda, which is the best part.) "The Chant Has Begun" really showcases their African influences, and "Hot Water", the follow up single to "Something..." that went nowhere, is them on full tilt. That monster bass, the spastic percussion, and the righteous horns all come together for a major good time. Incidentally, all of these were hit singles in the UK. Here? Nada.

Truthfully, every 80s music lover should have Level Best in their collection. Not only will it bring back memories, but it's the sort of stuff that manages to put a smile on your face. And, the follow up album to World Machine, Running In The Family, might even be more consistent from beginning to end. But, this one has the sentimental value. Plus, it has that song!

Nugget: "Leaving Me Now". Seriously, that piano!

Lost Gem of the 80s #14: Glen Burtnick - "Talking In Code" (1986)

I’m going to coin a new musical genre right here: "Stallone Music". These are songs or sounds often heard during action sequences or training montages featured prominently during Sly’s 80s heyday of films such as Rocky 2,3, and 4, Cobra, Over the Top, Tango and Cash and the Rambo movies. The obvious pioneer of this genre is Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”, we all know that one. But, it’s augmented by the likes of Kenny Loggins, Sammy Hagar, Asia, Eddie Money and the unforgettable John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. Many other performers can be lumped into this group based on sharing similar DNA. Glen Burtnick is one of those guys.

Despite being a top-notch 80s songwriter, Glen was doomed from the start by being cursed with the surname Burtnick. Chicks don’t put posters of a guy named Burtnick on their wall (although they forgave Ralph Macchio, so maybe I’m wrong). Guys don’t grow up wanting to rock like Burtnick. Women don’t want to sleep with Burtnick, and Rocky is not going to spar with Apollo to a Burtnick. So, this minimizes your possibilities greatly.

Secondly, as I mentioned, he was a good songwriter for the 80s. His stuff could only truly come to life under the façade of era-specific production. In other words, Glen performing his hits acoustically in a coffee shop is not where you want to experience him (even though I’m sure he’s out there looking for that exact gig as you read this).

And, lastly, he had the kind of high registered, nasally voice and slim frame of a kid who was picked on in school, grew a mullet upon graduation, had a knack for snappy pop songs, and morphed into a rock star while those who knew him, knew the truth.

Now, why should you listen to him? Because he’s fun. Because he had the goods, even if it was never fully acknowledged. His songs are catchy and, while never used, tailor-made for 80s cinema. Stallone film soundtracks had to straddle a very fine line between machismo and sensitivity. If you were too macho (Van Halen) or wussy (Journey) you weren’t invited to the party. The template was simple: crunchy guitars to please the boys and some sweeping synths for the ladies. This was the world inhabited by Foreigner, Loverboy, and Jeff Healy. This is a world we all secretly love. This is a world we think about when we’regrinding it out on the treadmill. This is a world we miss.

Sadly, Glen never really had a hit. There might be a song here or there that sounds vaguely familiar, but that’s it. His albums are all out of print and hard to find, and his live shows have been relegated to local bars and maybe a county fair if he’s lucky. And, to make matters worse, I can’t find a youtube clip of the best song on Talking In Code, “Crank It Up” (again, only in the 80s did that phrase even sound menacing). There isn’t much out there (“Little Red House” has a video posted, but isn’t the best example of what I’m talking about). The best clip to satiate your curiosity (I know you’re dying), would be for his modest hit “Follow You” off the album that came after Code, Heroes & Zeroes.

So, next time you decide to rip the sleeves off your t-shirt, grow your hair long, test drive a Trans Am, or throw on an acid washed denim jacket, let Glen be your soundtrack. He’s good enough and, Lord knows, he could probably use the work.

The Nugget - "Crank It Up" The link has snippets of all the tracks, so you'll get the idea. This is what should have been playing when Sly was looking for the strength to work that crazy move on the other arm wrestlers in Over The Top.

Lost Gem of the 80s #13: Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder - st (1985)

Consider the year, 1985. The Human League were one of the hottest bands in the world with several top 10 hits under their belt and were pioneers of the synth-pop sound that epitomized the early 80s. One would think that a collaboration between lead singer Philip Oakey and legendary disco architect Giorgio Moroder (producer for Donna Summer, Oscar winner for Flashdance and Midnight Express) would birth some cutting edge dance and club music. Instead, it produced a good, lost Human League album.

There is virtually no difference in style between this self-titled cd and the hits the League were churning out at the time. The only remotely noticeable one is the absence of HL back-up singers Susan and Joanne. However, some songs on the album do feature female backing vocals that could easily be interchangeable with theirs. One noticeable voice on “Be My Lover Now” is the unmistakable E.G. Daly. You’d know her from acting in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Valley Girl, and also the soundtracks to Breakfast Club and Better Off Dead (she’s the singer at the school dance). Philip’s baritone is at its usual peak. What a cool, strange instrument that voice is. Dare I say, it sounds a little like if Johnny Cash were British and used synthesizers?

This album sparked no hits at the time and has been out of print and long forgotten until a few months ago when it was reissued with bonus tracks in a new cleaned up mix. If it is known at all, it’s for being the home of “(Together In) Electric Dreams” from the film of the same name, a sort of cult classic and the song the League close out every live show with. It appears on most HL greatest hits packages, even though it is not “officially” an HL track, so it’s easy to assume it was theirs all along. It’s a great song that endures to this day.

Human League are like the Hall & Oates of synth pop. There is no mistaking their pop sensibility and the hits from back in the day are still beloved and strong. The question is whether listeners discount them as being relics of the past, or momentary genius’s that added much to the pop canon. I tend to be one of the latter and love them both more today than ever. While Phil and Giorgio’s collabo isn’t essential, it is a much appreciated missing piece for those with a soft spot for the HL sound. The songs are great and familiar, just as all great pop music should be. If you have an ear that's tuned to synth-pop and are adventurous enough to look beyond the hits, you'll love it.

The Nugget - "Goodbye Bad Times". Of all the singles, it holds up the best.

Lost Gem of the 80s #12: Malcolm McLaren - "Duck Rock" (1983)

Ok, pay attention. This one is special.

There are two incongruous truths about pop music. Blondie is mostly responsible for introducing mainstream America to rap music (thanks to “Rapture”, the first song ever in the top 40 featuring rap. Btw, look fast for Jean-Michel Basquiat as the DJ in the video at the 1:58 mark) and Paul Simon holds the same honor for world music (thanks to Graceland, of course), specifically African. The years that indigenous creators toiled with these sounds were not validated by the mass populace until white people showed it to them by repackaging it into something they could easily digest. Both of these artists did commendable jobs, and achieved it in a truly artistic fashion, but that doesn’t make it authentic. But, hey, that’s what rock music’s all about! We wouldn’t be here if white folks hadn’t done the same thing with their old blues records.

Well, what is ignored and forgotten is that McLaren, the impresario responsible for the Sex Pistols, nearly pulled of an almost perfect amalgamation of the two styles himself. Only problem was, not as many people were listening. Duck Rock remains an unadulterated classic of cultural mash-ups and combined styles that was WAY ahead of its time.

Here’s some background. After the demise of the Pistols, McLaren, taking himself entirely too seriously, felt the next fad (after punk) was going to be a sort of Afrobeat and ska mix. Take some of the guitar strums of punk, strip off the distortion, and add the ever necessary Burundi drum style derived by tom tom beats and traditional African ritual music, which he called "Duck Rock". This notion crystallized for him in the form of Bow Wow Wow, the band he managed after the Pistols. One listen to “I Want Candy” and you sense the exact style he’s going for.

While managing them, he put out his own album, Duck Rock, which served as an even wilder blend of sounds from the melting pot streets of New York City. Two singles from the album (the hip-hop influenced“Buffalo Gals” and Graceland precursor “Double Dutch” complete with twirling rope sound effects) became staples of the underground dance scene. So, while neither were mainstream smashes, they were embraced by their target audience and are still often played today.

McLaren almost takes a backseat to the performers on this record. He’s more of an orchestrator than a frontman. But, the evidence of what must have been swimming around in his head is startling. Each song practically recalls a different spot on the globe, whether it be downtown NYC, or the shantytowns of Soweto, or the isles of Latin America. Just because he can, he even ends the album with "Duck For The Oyster" which sounds an awful lot like that remix of "Cotton-Eyed Joe" they play at every dance. The listener is immediately transplanted to, not only the locale, but to the hottest club of 1983 within each locale where they're hearing the hottest music in the hottest club.

The one distraction to the album, which is only a distraction on repeated spins, is that it features snippets of the actual broadcast of the World’s Famous Supreme Team, a late night hip-hop radio show in NYC in the early 80s. While the time-capsule nostalgia of listening to what radio was like in ’83 (when DJs didn’t just play music, they influenced behavior and prompted action) is interesting, it’s really only interesting once. On subsequent listens, it would be nice to mute them and just let the music play, as the snippets play over the beginnings and ends of songs, just as they would on the radio.

One other interesting tidbit. Guess who was playing on this album? Trevor Horn and Anne Dudley. If you don’t know why I think that’s cool, read here. Trevor especially has had his finger in some of the best music of the last 25 years.

The Nugget - I've played the hits out, so I'm picking "Merengue", which sounds exactly as the name would imply, a song meant to be merengue'd to.

Lost Gem of the 80s #11: Crowded House - st (1986)

I’m often asked what my favorite album of all-time is. Well, it’s this one.

Even while making such a huge declaration, I struggle to find a reason why that would compel everyone to listen to it. What I’ve decided is that it sounds like home to me. Not my house, or where I was raised, or even the era in which I grew up. It sounds like home because the sound, the melodies, the songs, the voices and instruments are so comfortable and familiar.

Lead singer Neil Finn gets my vote for the greatest songwriter in rock history. Well, him and Paul McCartney. The reason being, he/they seem to have a wellspring of catchy, familiar, yet fresh melodies inside of them that never dries up. Nothing is flashy or edgy or on the fringe. It’s so simple and honest and it rings true every single time. That is an urgently underappreciated talent, especially in today’s music environment. His contemporaries are not other rockers, they are Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Henry Mancini, and Irving Berlin. Artists that contribute to the canon of musical history. If Neil has one weakness, I would have to say it’s his lyrics. They are not always as universal as the melodies are. But, that’s a small complaint.

Of course, everybody knows “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. Almost no one seems to know it by name until you say the “hey now, hey now” part and then the light goes on. The album had one other top 10 hit, the far less enduring “Something So Strong” and that’s it for hits from Crowded House. A few others flirted with the top 40 over the next seven years, but nothing quite cracked it, leaving CH with the moniker of “two-hit wonder”. This is another one of life’s true travesties.

This album itself tossed out three other singles, the comparatively dark “World Where You Live” and the brighter “Now We’re Getting Somewhere” and "Mean To Me". None found the masses, but they’re equally as good as the hits and serve to make the spectrum of songs on the album more robust. Adding to the depth is producer Mitchell Froom. His distinctive and immediately identifiable style has since become really stagnant, claustrophobic, and redundant (sadly, Neil continues to use him on his solo albums, much to my chagrin), but it was fresh and powerful in ’86. Some complain it makes the songs too busy with an organ here and some brass there, but I think it gives it heft and greater reasons to revisit the album since sounds sometimes surprise and come out of nowhere. Considering CH is just a trio, Froom becomes a crucial fourth member that helps round out and fill up the sound and spaces. You don’t always want that from a producer, but it works here big time.

So here it is, the gold standard of contemporary pop music. And if it weren’t you’d never be able to convince me otherwise.

One sad postscript. Drummer Paul Hester committed suicide in 2005, breaking my heart. CH put on a great live show, full of audience banter and loads of comedy. Paul was often the biggest clown of all. He was actually a really sad person behind the act.

The Nugget: Man, this is next to impossible. “That’s What I Call Love is the one I probably play most often, and "World..." has been creeping up recently, but today I’m feeling “Hole In The River” (I prefer the album version to this live one, but it's all that's out there). It’s definitely a Froom driven track, a vast soundscape and collage of swirling moods and sounds. It’s what I’m digging right now.

Live in Concert: The Regeneration Tour 8/7/08

The best word to describe the Regeneration Tour’s stop in SLC is “efficient”. Four bands keeping a tight time schedule. This was an example of professionals conducting business.

The show began promptly at 7 with Naked Eyes getting right to the point by leading off with “Always Something There To Remind Me”, lest anyone forgot who they were. They did eight songs in 35 minutes. Show over. Fifteen minutes later, ABC comes on stage. Same thing, eight songs in 35 minutes. Show over. Fifteen minutes later, Belinda Carlisle comes out. Again, eight songs in 35 minutes. Finally, the Human League took 30 minutes to take the stage. They did ten songs in 45 minutes. Evening over by 10:30. You figure each band had to pocket a couple grand each. How do I get a job making all that money for 35 minutes of work? Oh, maybe I do that already, actually.

Aside from Belinda, I’ve been a huge fan of all involved for as long as I’ve known what pop music was. In fact, “…There To Remind Me” and “Don’t You Want Me Baby” are some of the first songs I remember taking notice of and ABC has steadily climbed to near the top of my list of all-time faves. There was no way I could pass this night up, even if it meant driving from Denver to Salt Lake City to see it. Unfortunately, A Flock Of Seagulls were supposed to be there, but weren’t. I never heard why.

Luckily, I’ve seen the bands I wanted to see previously. So, while the short set lists were kind of a bummer, at least I know I’ve seen them do their thing before. For not being a fan of Belinda, or the Go-Go’s really, her set was a pleasant surprise, mostly because it was the only one that was new. She still looks great. Slightly thicker, but still hot.

Naked Eyes sound the exact same as they always have. Led by Pete Byrne (collaborator Rob Fisher died nine years ago), they ran through all 3 of their top 40 hits, “…Remind…”, “When The Lights Go Out” and “Promises Promises”. He sounds just the same. He pulled out a few of the cult faves, for those of us who have been paying attention to their lesser known hits. Same thing with ABC. “Be Near Me”, “The Look Of Love” and “When Smokey Sings” were all accounted for, as well as a couple new tracks. Front man Martin Fry remains one of the classiest acts in rock. He’s battled back from cancer to look as debonair as ever.

Belinda played all the songs I knew, but never liked. “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” and “Mad About You” as well as a couple Go-Go’s classics. And finally, the Human League trotted out all their usuals too, like “Fascination”, “Mirror Man”, “Human” and “Tell Me When”. They are an especially good time. Leader Phil Oakey roams the stage going from point to point, almost like he’s on a calorie burning regimen. For a band that created such great dance songs, he doesn’t appear to have much in the way of moves. Meanwhile, the girls, Susan and Joanne, remain on either side of the stage wiggling their hips and flirting with the crowds. All of the artists look great, considering they’re each around 50.

When I tell people who I saw, most of them know the names, but can’t place the songs. They know enough to know it’s been years since they were big, so they usually crinkle their noses or laugh. The truth is, you’d probably know at least 2/3 of the songs that were played that night. Between the four of them, they’re responsible for around 20-25 top 40 hits. Granted, none in the last 15-20 years, but each song remains a staple of life’s background music.

All in all, it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Get some good friends and let loose. I hope they do something similar every summer. Maybe pull together a different collection of bands. Maybe I’ll quit my job and manage it. That could easily be my life’s calling.

Lost Gem of the 80s #10: Jimmy Barnes - "Freight Train Heart" (1987)

Americans don’t know much about Jimmy. He’s an Aussie and really had most of his success down there. You may know one song which was a collaboration with INXS on the song “Good Times” from the Lost Boys Soundtrack. One of the best songs INXS ever did, actually. They did two songs together for that movie, both were great and the two sounded perfectly together. But, that’s probably all you know.

Jimmy has one of those voices where you can see the veins shooting out in his neck and hear the nicotine and whisky caked all over his vocal chords. It’s passion to the furthest degree. In the 80s, his voice was perfect for the Heartland, countrified rock that was popular at the time. Maybe it was Reaganomics, maybe it was the 20th anniversary of the summer of love and Rolling Stone magazine, maybe it was the reforming and unique commercial success of hippie bands like the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, or maybe it was the Cold War. Whatever was going on, a sense of politics and purpose infused most mainstream rock, especially in 1987. Yes, most of the music sounds 80s today, but it was sure earnest and sincere.

Jimmy isn’t being overtly political, but when your sound is so steeped in the heartland of America, you’re sending a message whether you mean to be or not. The message is save the farmers, preserve the terrain, and respect the working class. Those ideals were on the verge of extinction then. They’re all but gone now.

Freight Train Heart is Barnes’ best album and probably the only one you’d ever need. It kicks off with “Driving Wheels”, which sounds just like what a song about being a truck driver should sound like. Turning the key at the crack of dawn, mug of coffee in the cup holder, ready for another long day on the interstates of America (or maybe Australia in his case), building as you go from 1st to 4th gear, with the chorus chiming in just as you hit 5th. Most of the album is like that. Pianos, harmonica, Stevie Ray Vaughn-like guitar, black women singing back up, drummers working the cymbals in time. Blues mixed with rock mixed with country mixed with soul. They call it “pub-rock”, but, to me, that implies a sound only large enough for the local bar. This is bigger.

On the softer side, there are some really effective ballads like “Waiting For The Heartache To Come”, and, especially, “Too Much Ain’t Enough Love”. In fact, “Too Much” might be one of the most restless, yearning ballads of the decade. At the 2:58 mark his voice goes up one more octave on the chorus and the sweat has to be dripping down his nose by then. Weird thing, the first 4 seconds of “Too Much” are pretty much sampled from “Human” by the Human League. You’d know that first “BOWM” noise anywhere. Man, I still love that song!

Jimmy did a song for one of my favorite movies of the 80s called Gung Ho called “Working Class Man”. That’s the perfect fit for these songs, as the background in a movie about disgruntled American auto workers and their patriotic fight against Japanese superiority in the auto world. Imagine that and you’ve nailed Freight Train Heart. He didn't have the same success as the Mellencamps and Hornsbys and Springsteens, but he deserved to.

The Nugget - "Too Much Ain't Enough Love". It has to be. The desire is almost unnerving in its rawness.

Lost Gem of the 80s #9: Eight Seconds - "Almacantar" (1986)

Almacantar, whatever that means, could only have existed during the cold war. Even though the band is Canadian, and there is nothing overtly political happening in any of the songs, it has that Easter European sound that was big in the 80s. A lot like what the Fixx were doing. Synths took the lead, followed by guitars and a rhythm section that was either way down in the mix, or it was also coming from the synths. I guess by Eastern European, what I really mean is that it sounds like it was performed in a cathedral somewhere in Germany. A cold cathedral.

These guys only had one very modest hit with “Kiss You (When It’s Dangerous)”. Like I said, not overtly political, but the name alone suggests some lurking unrest or foreboding that’s coming from who knows where. They were slightly bigger in their native land, but not enough to be considered more than just a blip on pop radio’s history. Their true calling would have been having their songs playing in the background of a movie montage where some nerdy college students are inadvertently building a nuclear bomb as a finals project. Something so unmistakably 80s in tone and topic that the issues and montage become dated minutes after it was committed to film.

The album isn’t entirely cold synths though. The two highlights have to be “Where’s Bula” and “Zoe”. Again, not sure who either of them are (or what a Bula is?), but the songs have soul and heat, especially for tunes so drenched in synths. Another current touchstone could be Keane. Their first album, especially the song "Bedshaped", sound a lot like half the songs on Almacantar. I almost think Eight Seconds could have a decent plagiarism case going if they wanted to pursue it.

Interesting story about Eight Seconds. When I was 13, my grandma was visiting from Norway (not my real grandma, but may as well have been). She knew of a young Norwegian girl visiting Utah for the summer and suggested we go out. I was told she was 17, so I lied and said I was 15 since I couldn’t drive. For the date, we saw Wang Chung at Symphony Hall (now Abravenel Hall) and Eight Seconds were the opener. I didn’t know who they were, but I thought they were great. I still remember I was wearing a green and pink long-sleeved shirt under a pink cable sweater with the sleeves rolled up. Needless to say, my dad dressed me. It was a fun night, but I felt dumb after the concert when I had to find a pay phone to call my dad to come pick us up. By the way, she turned out to be 19. Poor girl was stuck with the company of a 13 year old for an evening on a DATE! At least the concert was good.

The Nugget - "Zoe". Yes, it's of its time, but the song is catchy and anthemic and should have been a big hit.

Lost Gem of the 80s #8: Ian McCulloch - "Candleland" (1989)

No question, Echo and the Bunnymen were one of the great bands of the 80s. Not quite punk and not quite goth, their sound was sinister, druggy, and black, but with a pop sheen that made it palatable for radio. Their Best Of package, Songs to Learn and Sing, remains a must have for any music fan, no matter how intense. You can’t go wrong with songs like "The Killing Moon" and "Bring On The Dancing Horses". In fact, Ian himself will tell you "Moon" is the greatest song ever written. He can be arrogant like that.

So, it’s weird that his first solo album would have the same pop sensibility and song structure, but incorporate an entirely new emotion: hope. There is a dreamy positivity to these songs that is totally alien to his persona, yet completely welcome and downright gorgeous. Never before would you have heard Ian sing words like “Choking on the wonder of it all” in "The Flickering Wall" or "Fingers crossed that there's a heaven" in "Horse's Head", both highlights. The Bunnymen seemed overcome by darkness, yet Ian expresses being taken aback by beauty. It’s a nice change.

Every song on the album has a catchy chorus and a powerful feel. “Proud To Fall” got some airplay back in the day and I remember not being all that impressed by it, especially when compared to the Bunnymen’s output. Time has taught me otherwise. It’s become one of my favorite songs to sing. In truth, I would probably pop this album in more often than almost any of Echo's catalog. It’s more consistent. Each track has its own personality. “Faith And Healing” sounds exactly like a lost New Order song. “Start Again” is totally Cocteau Twins.

That Cocteau Twins comparison is not only the most consistent for the whole album, it explains the album’s best song, the title track. On “Candleland”, Ian is joined by none other than Cocteau Twins lead singer, Elizabeth Fraser and it’s a match made it heaven. Her voice is angelic (as always) and brings a depth to Ian’s that would never have been unlocked otherwise.

I can’t stress enough what a joy it is to hear this side of Ian. It’s as though the power and depth of the Bunnymen was run through the Happy Ending Machine and what popped out is a wondrous fever dream of paradise. As he sings in “Proud To Fall”, “But from start to finish, I was proud to fall. And I fell so deep within it, I got lost inside it all.” Candleland will have a similar effect on you.

The Nugget – “Candleland”. Seriously, Ian and Liz missed a golden opportunity to be the Robert Plant and Allison Krauss of their day. It’s perfection.

Lost Gem of the 80s #7: ABC - "The Lexicon Of Love" (1982)

“Pop, for lack of a better word, is good. Pop is right, Pop works. Pop clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”

Gordon Gekko – “Wall Street”

Pop is a beautiful word. It should refer to the highest art that is accepted by the most people, not the lowest common denominator. Warhol would agree with me. It’s an especially good omen when it’s attached to music, such as “Power Pop”, which would refer to songs like “What I Like About You” by the Romantics, or “Surrender” by Cheap Trick. It’s the meat and potatoes. Three chords, passion, ferocity, simplicity, eternally catchy.

Straight up Pop would be stuff like “Baby One More Time” by Britney or “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys. It’s mathematical. Code and formulas are typed into a computer and these songs are spit out. They are the realizations of reams of scientific and sociological data. You’re supposed to like them because your bio-rhythm tells you so. You can fight it all you want, and tell yourself it doesn’t have merit, but a lot of research went into the creation of that song and it’s smarter than you are.

Then, we have Perfect Pop. Music that is so pristine and flawlessly produced that it belongs under glass in a museum. That’s where Lexicon lands. It’s one of the most perfect albums ever made. Catchy songs, glossy productions, exquisite sound.

You know some of the songs. “Poison Arrow”, “The Look of Love”, maybe even “Tears Are Not Enough” (so funky!), and “All of My Heart” (so sweet!) and you probably liked them, but now see them as part of an era that’s come and gone. You shouldn’t. It’s time capsule stuff. And, perfection stands the test of time. Time doesn’t render something imperfect.

Most of the sheen is due to Trevor Horn, the producer. He was the lead singer of the Buggles (“Video Killed the Radio Star”) and went into producing, spawning some of the most commercially successful and audibly lush albums of the next 10 years. The list includes albums like Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Welcome To the Pleasuredome, Yes – 90125, Seal – Seal (1991), as well as collaborations with Simple Minds, Marc Almond and Pet Shop Boys. All were smashes. Some, in fact, would never achieve that level of success again without him. He also started a group called Art Of Noise you may know with some like-minded artists. They had a few hits. One of them, Anne Dudley, went on to win an Oscar for the score to the Full Monty. She scores the orchestral flourishes on Lexicon as well. When Horn takes over a project, he’s obsessive.

ABC lead singer and fashion magnate, Martin Fry, is best remembered today for his gold suit, but his incredible voice and pop craft should never be ignored. ABC was one of the best singles band of the era with additional hits like “Be Near Me” and “When Smokey Sings”. They went on to lose their mojo, like so many others, so Lexicon serves as the lasting testament to each contributor’s creative peak. Even the songs you don’t know are perfect and, maybe, better than the singles. Just listen to the globetrotting, James Bondian swerve of “Valentine’s Day” (especially what Dudley does with the swirling synth/string build during each verse. Name another song that would pull that off so readily).

While being ULTRA (all caps) sophisticated, it will also move your booty. “Many Happy Returns” starts off kind of awkwardly, like a room of wallflowers, but kicks into the groove in a few seconds and the room is bumping. And “Tears Are Not Enough” would have gotten the place sweaty in the post-disco era of the early 80s.

Most people hold Lexicon in high praise, but those people are usually critics, or British. The regular Joe on the street probably has no idea what a benchmark album it was, nor the level of craft included. At least get yourself an ABC best of. Twelve or so of the finest singles “Pop” has to offer. You’ll thank yourself. And, don’t forget to tell yourself, “Pop is good!”

The Nugget – “All of My Heart”. Tough call, mine changes every time I hear it. Lately, I’ve been really digging on "Valentine’s Day", but the track that may get the layman to sit up and pay attention is this one. I think it's one of the greatest love songs ever written because it's so sophisticated and without sap.

Lost Gem of the 80s #6: Klaus Nomi - st (1982)

Don't get too excited. I'm sure all of you run out and buy my recommendations as soon as you read them (how can you help yourself?), but wait a sec on this one. It's too weird for words.

Klaus was a performance artist in NY in the early 80s who was making a name for himself in the underground and gay clubs for his otherworldly shows and appearance. Decked out in a plastic tuxedo shaped like a V, kabuki make-up, black balding hair spiked up, and operatic voice, Nomi looked and acted like an alien plopped in the middle of Manhattan (by way of Germany) to observe the behavior and activities of earthlings. His shows got some buzz, record labels came calling, and then he died of AIDS in 1983, making him one of the very first entertainers to succumb to the disease.

His self-titled debut is a trip. With only one original song, it's mostly weird versions of standards we all know, but with his freak opera flag flying. Take his version of "The Twist" for instance. His version is slowed way down and run through the Flux Capacitor. "Lightning Strikes" and "You Don't Own Me" sound like those karaoke booths they used to have in the mall. Remember those? Imagine some smalltown wannabe who sings in the local choir coming to the mall in like '82 and recording a couple faves with the idea that he's going to mail them to some label and become a big star. That's what this sounds like. Only, it's for real! Klaus wasn't a wannabe, he was actually paid money to sing and act this way!

If you click on only one link from this, make it "Total Eclipse". Your jaw will hit the floor. Keep in mind, this plastic androgenous alien opera singer act was for real! I guess everyone has to have an angle and he had several. This clip is from the indispensible 1981 doc Urgh! A Music War. This priceless bit of music history should be required viewing for everyone everywhere, as it's a valuable peek into the styles and cultures of the early 80s. VH1 Classic plays it every few months, look for it.

I find this stuff fascinating. I'm not going to pop on Klaus Nomi very often, if ever, but I find the story and ideas mind blowing. Check out those links and see for yourself. Also, if you want to dig more, there's a pretty good doc film about him called Nomi Song that fleshes out the story. It's on Sundance every now and again.

The Nugget - "Total Eclipse". 99% of this stuff is just for the curious, but you may listen to "Total Eclipse" more than once. Have fun with this!

Lost Gem of the 80s #5: Billy Squier - "Don't Say No" (1981)

OK, so I'm using the term "lost" loosely here, since Don't Say No has sold a few million copies and continues to sell pretty well considering the enduring appeal of hits like "The Stroke", "In The Dark" and "Lonely Is The Night". What's lost is not the album, but the artist.

Billy Squier flat out rocks. All the bombast and wail of Led Zeppelin, but with the pop mentality of Journey or Def Leppard, Squier continues to be a misunderstood and under appreciated artist. There are many reasons for that. First, he hasn't released an album in 10 years, and he hasn't released one anyone cared about in closer to 25, making him somewhat of a mystery. Secondly, he put out this career demolishing video for 1984's "Rock Me Tonight" and alienated the majority of his fans. There had always been something not right about Billy. He seemed a little gay or asexual for a guy in the hard rock world and that video put people over the edge. He never recovered.

But, he also never recovered because his music was never as good. Now, less confused fans would have probably been more forgiving if not for the weird "is-he-gay-or-not" thing. Btw, I've been researching the answer to that and there's a lot of speculation out there that he is, but more evidence that he is not. Apparently, he got married recently, not that that is always the final word (Ted Haggard), but it helps.

So, consider Don't Say No not just his masterpiece, but also one of the legendary releases of the early 80s FM rock era. Every beat drives and every chord thrives. Aside from the almost unlistenable slow jam, "Nobody Knows", Don't Say No can walk proudly alongside the best Zeppelin had to offer and hasn't lost a single ounce of credibility in the 27 years since its release. Now, if we could just get Billy to find his mojo again. Last I saw, he was playing in Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band about 2 years ago. Not exactly the most prestigious gig in the world (Richard Marx was also in that iteration of Ringo's band, if that tells you anything).

Come back Billy. We won't say no.

The Nugget: "In The Dark". It remains a blood pumping hit and hasn't reached the overplayed status that "The Stroke" has.

Lost Gem of the 80s #4: Some Kind of Wonderful - Soundtrack (1986)

Hopefully, you've voted in the poll on the right. It's one of the most important questions of our generation. (I am shocked, SHOCKED, Ferris is in first and BC in last. I would have totally had that reversed). My vote went to Some Kind Of Wonderful, but when I think about why, I come back to the soundtrack. Much of my affection for the film comes from my appreciation for the mood and attitude created by the songs.

The soundtrack is a collection of songs by mostly underground bands you've probably never heard of. The biggest names are the Jesus and Mary Chain (oddly the most forgettable song on the album, though still a good one), and maybe Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks lead singer) and Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy (an early member of Duran Duran, and sort of successful solo artist), but only die hards would know who those two are. The beauty of the album is in the strength of the tunes. While they do sound unmistakably 80s, they also sound like the best the 80s underground had to offer. It manages to sound of its time, but never dated.

There was one modest hit in Flesh For Lulu's "I Go Crazy" which is still one of the greatest new wave singles of the era. Chances are you know it and don't know you know it. The rest are all mysteries with names like the March Violets, Furniture, Lick the Tins, and Apartments. It would be interesting to research each of their output beyond this soundtrack because all of it is solid. The Lick the Tins track is especially cool, a sort of Irish hootenanny version of "Can't Help Falling In Love". It starts with some Burumbi drums, then introduces one of those Irish whistles, and then the lead singer's baby girl voice. Before it ends, you get fiddles and a Pogues-like jam erupts. Genius. Another song, "Cry Like This" by Blue Room, sounds like an eerie version of "Lady In Red". That doesn't sound cool, but it is.

Sadly, two of the best songs in the film don't appear on the album for some reason. Both Propaganda's "Dr. Mabuse" and Charlie Sexton's "Beat's So Lonely" are missing. Shame since they would have complimented what is there wonderfully.

Still, this remains a near perfect sampler of 80s underground new wave. It deserves to sit in a time capsule for discovery by future generations.

The Nugget - "I Go Crazy". It's the hit that deserves to whet your appetite.

Lost Gem Of The 80s #3: Brian Setzer - "The Knife Feels Like Justice" (1986)

Never one to let a trend pass him by, Brian Setzer’s first post-Stray Cats solo album touched on the heartland rock he saw acts like Bruce Springsteen, REM, and U2 (and to a lesser extent, The Alarm and John Fogerty) making boatloads of money on; singing about the trials and travails of the American West. So, he traded in the rock-a-billy of the Cats for the jangly, Byrds-y guitars and earnestness of that same Farm Aid-ish 80s politics that was the style of the day. Knife finds him in a weird holding pattern (he would breakout the Brian Setzer Orchestra about 7 years later and reunite woth the Cats off and on), looking for a new identity (or muse, to be honest) to hook himself to. He would never go back to this sound again.

Knife straddles a fine line between curio and legit release. So, you can ask yourself, “after hearing it once out of curiosity, is it worth putting on again?” The answer is yes. It isn’t groundbreaking and it doesn’t compare to all the similar albums of the era, but the songs are strong and Setzer’s a pro no matter what genre he tries out.

A scan of the tracklist will tip you off to what you’re in for with titles like “Haunted River” (check out the pompi-mullet, not to mention the out-of-his-mind guitar playing), “Radiation Ranch”, “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”, and especially the title track. And, can you guess who the “Three Guys” are of the song by the same name? Yep, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, “three guys I like the most”. Huh? Brian Setzer is saying this? What happened to “Sexy + 17” or “Rumble In Brighton”? He traded in the Cadillacs for songs about “outlaws”, “raging storms” and “blood and whiskey” running through the veins.

The album is pretty hard to find, but it’s a good one.

The Nugget - "The Knife Feels Like Justice". It was the single and still sounds like a barn burner. Plus, Brian channels his inner Peter Buck, which is always good. "Haunted River" is also excellent.

Lost Gem of the 80s #2: Blow Monkeys - "Animal Magic" (1986)

Remember horns? Whether real or synthesized, the 80s were full of them. And it wasn’t a big deal. Most bands employed a brass section.

Well, other than the occasional Clarence Clemons sighting, I can’t think of a rock band that uses a horn in any current bands or hit singles. Sampling horns for "Crazy In Love" doesn’t count.

I was a big fan of the horns back in the day. They seemed to liven up the party. This brings me to the Blow Monkeys, who used them better than most. Their one and only American hit, "Digging Your Scene", incorporated them seamlessly into their loungey, sophisti-pop sound and no one batted an eye.

The surprise of Animal Magic is actually the guitar. Scrape away the horns and the strings and you have some legitimate blues guitar going on. Whether it’s the acoustic strum of "Wicked Ways", or the clippity-clop underlying "Burn The Rich", which, in Dwight Yoakam or the like’s hands, would have been a total barn-burner. In fact, I remember “dubbing” (remember that?) the album off a friend and being disappointed because the guitars were so prevalent. My tastes were geared more toward the Thompson Twins at that point, and this was not that.

The only thing keeping an album like Animal Magic from catching on with now people is the fey voice of leader, Dr. Robert. It’s only as I listen to the album now that I catch on to the veiled homoeroticism that I was too young to catch onto before. Plus, let’s face it, who DIDN’T seem gay in the 80s? It was such the style that my gaydar still doesn’t work right because I was never faced with a difference. He’s since traded his status in as Lounge Lizard to Torchsong Troubador, but it doesn’t fit him like this does.

Animal Magic is an album that deserves to be rediscovered today. Almost every song is a winner and, when you can listen without prejudice (thank you, George Michael), the musicianship is solid. It’s shrouded in that 80s production that drowns out such things in favor of that lush sheen, but it’s there.

I’ll go out on a limb here and say that I am finally placing this album in my all-time top 5. If you even remotely liked "Digging Your Scene", do yourself a favor and investigate the rest. There aren’t that many albums out there that deserve to remain on repeat for days on end.

Sadly, this masterpiece is out of print. But, I have a spare copy if anyone wants to buy it off me. :)

The Nugget – "Aeroplane City Lovesong". It’s got all the best of the various elements that make this such an incredible record; bluesy guitars, emotional strings, sexy brass, bongos and congas, and that unsung element of any great song, Black backup singers.

Good Ol' Rick

Last week I finally purchased Rick Springfield's 2 Disc Anthology, Written In Rock and I needed to annouce that it's brought me a lot of joy.

He's an underrated artist, let's be honest about that. The guy can write a hook, tons of them. I'm getting to the point in my life where I'm a lot less interested in being cool musically. All those bands I wrote off in my twenties (REO Speedwagon, Motley Crue, Styx, Kenny Loggins, Journey, Poison, John Denver, Steely Dan, the list goes on and on), I'm happy to embrace now. It's like delayed gratification. I put off then what would make me happy later.

I do have one complaint. It gets old that Rick has to perform "Jessie's Girl" every day of his life when he has 10 or so other songs that everyone also knows. Give Jessie a rest and pull out some "Human Touch" or something. I'm sure it isn't his fault, poor guy. Those of us who know him though, know he's better than that.

Lost Gem Of The 80s #1: Robbie Robertson - st (1987)

It’s easy to decide how you’re going to feel about Robbie Robertson. You just have to look at the credits.

We’ll start with Robbie himself. We know he’s the esteemed guitarist and songwriter for The Band (a band I never liked until I saw Scorsese’s Last Waltz). That alone brings a lot of trust and respect. Now, this album doesn’t veer toward the lean country blues the Band were so steeped in, but these are the 80s afterall.

Then look at the guests. The first names to pop out are going to be U2 and Peter Gabriel, and both contributions are pretty noticeable. These make sense considering the album is produced by Daniel Lanois, who also produced U2’s Joshua Tree and Gabriel’s So (two seminal albums of any era), as well as Bob Dylan’s comeback (and best album in my opinon), Time Out Of Mind. And, like U2 and Gabriel, he has a style that’s easy to spot. It’s sweaty and atmospheric. If you do the math, you could easily see the songs on this album as extensions, or even outtakes, if you will, of Joshua Tree and So. If two of the greatest albums ever hooked up and spawned, wouldn’t you be interested in the results? U2 are more than guests, they’re the band for two tracks “Sweet Fire Of Love” and “Testimony”. You know it’s them the second a guitar is strummed or a drum is hit.

Also on board, though less of a headline, are The BoDeans and Ivan Neville (son of Aaron). Round that out with various members of the Band, and it's obvious what this is going to be about and sound like. While these may not mean as much to unfamiliar listeners, rest assured they are in keeping with the quality of the others. Overall, some pretty good genes.

It’s tempting to think the guests almost steal the album right out from under Robertson, but that isn’t the way to look at it. They lend their talents to compliment his. All of the songs are powerful, in that 80s Reagan/Bush Sr. kind of way, and vaguely political, also in that 80s Reagan/Bush Sr. kind of way. One of the singles, “Showdown At Big Sky”, got some airplay and MTV played the video a few times. It best sums up what you’re in for. Also on the album is the original version of “Broken Arrow”, a song made famous a few years later by Rod Stewart, albeit in an inferior version.

It took Robbie 11 years to release a solo album, and he’s only released 3 others since, but this is an excellent piece of music from any era. If you don’t believe me, check out #77 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Best Albums Of The 80s.

The Nugget - "Sweet Fire Of Love". Again, it's that great lost track any U2 fan, and there are a couple, needs to be aware of.

In A Big Country

The spark of motivation for starting this blog was created during an email exchange with my friend Chris Standish (my wife's sister's boyfriend) about bands we love. Me being the 80s junkie that I am, I asked him if he had any feelings about Big Country, one of my faves. God bless him, he felt like I do. This jumpstarted an exchange I've wanted to preserve because it nailed my feeling on, not only Big Country, but love for my fave bands and the responsibility of fans to support their rock heroes.

For those who don't know, Stuart Adamson, lead singer and guitarist for the band committed suicide about 7 years ago and it still doesn't sit well with me. He wrote such passionate songs about life and love and yet he couldn't muster the same passion to save his own life. It's so incongruous and heartbreaking. It's lyrics like "I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert, but I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime" that inspired me to begin writing and naming this blog. Below is excerpts of Chris and I's exchange. Maybe some readers can relate in some form.

"I've always wished I could have let him know somehow that I thought he was great, in case it would have made a difference. That's lofty, I know. When your rock heroes kill themselves, especially guys like Stuart and Paul [Hester, drummer for Crowded House, my all-time favorite band above all bands] who are in bands long out of the public eye, but completely entrenched in my heart, I feel some personal responsibility, like I wish I could have been there to nurture them back to health. If they did it because they didn't feel loved, well I loved them a lot! You know? Maybe just knowing that would have changed something. I'm sure it wouldn't have, but it would make me feel better.

"The first Big Country album I ever bought or owned was Peace In Our Time and it's terrible. It was high school and I took it to school once and it got stolen and I never bothered to replace it. It was just so far from their early great stuff. I think because that is where I started with their albums, it took me a while to pick up any more. I got their Best Of in college and it, along with Talk Talk - Natural History, are priceless. It gives you all you need to know about the latter work. "Wonderland" and "East Of Eden" are my faves. So, [then I go to work for Tower Records in their marketing and advertising department] and have access to free cds, as well as a lady friend I had at the time who loved Big Country too, which served to enhance and strengthen (if not even create, women will do that) my devotion, so I asked their label, Navarre, to send me whatever stuff they could. I got 3 of their Rarities discs. Not essential, but it helped to jumpstart my collection. Then, I pick up Why The Long Face for a buck somewhere. Again, not a great album, but by now I was willing to accept them faults and all. Finally, about a year or two ago, I bought The Seer and The Crossing. (Oh, Steeltown was obtained during a visit to the Bay Area by said lady friend. That's when I finally broke through to the good stuff and regained some trust after the Peace In Our Time disappointment).

"I find that I've begun to gauge my love of a band by how much money I've spent on them. So, used and Tower freebies don't count toward them because they wouldn't have seen any royalties. In that case, they were paid when I bought Peace, Seer, Crossing and Best Of, and the rest don't count. When I go through my collection and see how few bands I love that I can say I've spent that much on, I'm happy for them. Bands are like political candidates, if you believe in what they're doing, you have to show it by opening your wallet. Otherwise, they aren't given any indication how much you care. It's sad but true."

Chris pointed me to a beautiful article written by the one-and-only Dave Eggers about the band right after Stuart's suicide. Isn't it ironic that the man that admonished us to "Stay Alive!" couldn't do the same. The link is here: http://www.spinmagazine.com/features/magazine/2004/07/now_less_informed_opinion/